Polygon – Pastel

Things can get a bit complicated when simply “copying” an NFT from one blockchain to another.

As a refresher, a blockchain is a decentralized collection of financial accounts across a peer-to-peer network. It’s used to confirm transactions without needing a central governing body, allowing users to make transactions without a third party.

NFTs (non-fungible tokens) are unique cryptographic tokens that exist on a blockchain and cannot be replicated. They come in the form of NFT art, music, in-game collectibles, and much more.

Although someone can duplicate an image of an NFT, the code confirms the actual ownership of an NFT. Think of NFTs like a piece of art in a museum. Although the art can be replicated, the museum holds the official ownership rights of the original piece.

Currently, the NFT market is dominated by Ethereum, with 95% of NFTs being on the Ethereum blockchain. However, many collectors are fed up with high fees and slow transaction times on Ethereum.

As a result, alternatives such as Solana and Polygon are now becoming popular alternatives for collectors, with investors using bridge technology to transfer their NFTs from one blockchain to another.

This article will look at how NFT ownership works, how to transfer an NFT onto a different blockchain, and how to use the Polygon Bridge to transfer your NFTs.

How Does NFT Ownership Work?

When buying an NFT, you acquire a token on the blockchain. You might experience this NFT as a picture of a monkey or something, but in essence, you own a string of programming. This token is unique and represents a particular asset. For example, if you purchased an NFT on OpenSea, you’d own a code that shows you own that particular asset.

Once you own an NFT, you can use it commercially, for example, printing the art on a shirt or using the design in a video. However, this doesn’t stop other users from saving your image, with saving an image becoming a meme since 2021.

Not all NFTs give you copyright and intellectual property rights, so checking the details before buying is important.

How Do NFT Transfers Work?

Originally an NFT would stay on the blockchain it was purchased on. However, a new technology known as a blockchain bridge lets you transfer an NFT from one blockchain to another.

A blockchain bridge, also known simply as a bridge, is software that lets collectors move NFT across blockchains. These third-party programs actively monitor blockchains to ensure a smooth transaction.

For example, one such platform, NFTrade lets you move NFTs from one blockchain to another, with six blockchain networks to choose from.

To start, set up an account and connect your wallet.

Click My NFTs and choose the NFT you want to move from one blockchain to another.

On the top right corner of the NFT page, click the three dots and select the new wallet you want to send the NFT to.

Click Transfer NFT and verify the transaction to complete. You can then disconnect your wallet from NFT trade, and the selected wallet will now own the NFT.

Another way to transfer NFTs across blockchains is through the Polygon Bridge.

What is the Polygon Bridge?

Polygon Bridge is a cross-chain bridge between Polygon (formally Matic) and Ethereum that lets users transfer NFTs from Ethereum to the Polygon blockchain. Users can transfer all ERC tokens through a dual consensus procedure using this two-way bridge. This procedure uses a Plasma bridge and Proof-of-Stake bridge to complete the transaction and remain decentralized.

How Does The Polygon Bridge Work?

When using the Polygon Bridge, no new tokens are created. Instead, tokens leaving a particular network are locked and minted through another network. The new token is then created, and the old one is burned.

Here’s how you can use the bridge:

Connect your crypto wallet (such as MetaMask) to the Polygon Web Wallet

Sign your wallet through the extension

You’ll be taken to the Polygon Bridge interface. Here you can choose your token (supported tokens include MATIC, ETH, ERC20, ERC721, ERC1155, and several others.)

You’ll be charged a fee for this process which will change based on Ethereum traffic.

If you want to transfer your NFTs back to their old blockchain, click “Withdraw” and choose the tokens you want to return to their old blockchain.

Once the transaction has been validated, your NFTs will be available to claim in your crypto wallet.

Alternatively, you can also use the Plasma Bridge to transfer Polygon NFTs and transfer them to ETH, ERC20, or ERC721 tokens. Here’s how:

Open MetaMask and click “Switch to Polygon.”

Your Polygon details will show the Polygon network’s details.

From here, head to the Polygon Bridge, click “Withdraw,” and repeat the process above.

Three transactions will need to be validated when completing a transfer on the Plasma Bridge.

The first is to withdraw an NFT from your Polygon Wallet.

The second starts a 7-day challenge period, where an individual can challenge the transaction (this is for additional security.)

The third is to confirm sending your NFT to the wallet.

Overall this process is more secure; however not as fast as the normal Polygon Bridge.

However, some NFT holders may be a bit unsettled by the fact that their original NFT token is “burned” in order to create a new one.

Why Would You Copy An NFT Onto A Different Blockchain?

Although Ethereum dominates the NFT market, it’s far from perfect. One of the biggest issues with Ethereum is the transaction fees. Fees are extremely high, starting at $50-100+ per transaction, which is significantly higher than any other blockchain.

In addition to this, the fees themselves can fluctuate dramatically. One day you may pay $50 for a transaction; the next, you could be paying over $150. This frustrates NFT collectors trying to budget or profit from their investments.

Alternative blockchains such as Solana and Polygon have significantly lower fees. For example, the average cost of Minting an NFT in Solana is just 0.00001 SOL ($0.01.) Consequently, Solana and Polygon NFTs are growing in popularity, as shown by the growth in sales. Solana NFT sales volume hit an all-time high in the week ending Sept. 12, hitting almost $50 million (1.5 million SOL.)

Final Thoughts: Is Changing Blockchain Worth The Hassle?

As blockchain technology advances, so will the number of ways you can move an NFT onto a different blockchain. Currently, platforms such as NFTrade and Polygon Bridge are great ways to change blockchain. However, they can appear a little complicated for new investors.

So, is changing blockchain the best option for you?

This will depend entirely on your reason for buying an NFT.

Changing the blockchain may not be worth the hassle if you’ve purchased an NFT to hold it for the long term. Instead, holding your NFT in its current wallet would be better, and hoping the value increases.

However, if you frequently trade NFTs, then changing blockchain could help save you some money on network fees. It would also help speed up your transactions, letting you make more daily transactions.

Before making a decision, make sure you do your research to understand the transfer process and avoid unnecessary fees.

Bull or bear market, 2020 and 2021 will forever be cemented in NFT history.

Reports have shown that NFTs garnered the most profit ($17.7 billion) in the crypto space in 2021 – the market exploded by over 20,000 percent from the year prior. The total value of transactions jumped from $82.5 million to over $17 billion.

However, the times are changing– namely, the technology behind NFT platforms and various mechanisms is improving significantly.

Today, we’re going to explore NFT minting– how much does it cost to mint an NFT today, and how will this be different in years to come? Read along as we explore what “minting” an NFT is and more.

What Does Minting an NFT Mean?

A common misconception about NFTs is that people often confuse minting NFTs with buying NFTs. There’s a fundamental difference. Minting an NFT means creating something completely new on the blockchain.

It’s ‌converting a digital file into a digital asset that lives on the blockchain, whether that asset is digital art, music, or collectibles like sports and trading cards. However, it’s not like the blockchain is hosting the files for the NFT itself– that would cause the blockchain to become incredibly bloated and inefficient.

Remember, an NFT is just a token; this token represents the ownership of a specific digital asset. It’s not the screenshot of the Bored Ape Yacht Club that’s valuable; it’s the token.

Minting an NFT means publishing your unique token on a blockchain to make it purchasable by other people.

NFTs are minted on a blockchain. Ethereum’s blockchain is very popular for minting NFTs, including Solana, Cardano, Tezos, and more.

You can buy NFTs on a marketplace like OpenSea– and sometimes, these platforms will also allow creators to mint their NFTs.

However, many projects will first launch on a third-party site dedicated to the minting of the project; the fees you can expect to pay are usually only those for the network, which can be a princely sum themselves.

How Much Does OpenSea Charge for Minting NFTs?

OpenSea is the most popular NFT marketplace. Primarily for Ethereum-based NFTs, OpenSea announced the addition of Solana NFTs to their marketplace in Q1 2022.

OpenSea requires users to pay two fees before minting their digital assets on the platform. These minting prices aren’t fixed: they can be higher or lower depending on the function you seek to perform.

The first fee you’ll pay as a first-time creator is used to initialize your account. As of April 2022, this fee typically costs $70 to $300.

The second fee used to grant access to your account costs $10 to $30.

You can avoid high gas fees if you spot days when gas fees are lower using tools like Etherscan.

Then, OpenSea charges 2.5% for first-time sales of your minted NFT– it’s a multi-billion dollar company for a reason.

How Much Does Rarible Charge for Minting NFTs?

With ‌400,000 NFTs created and 1.6+ million users, Rarible is another of the most popular NFT marketplaces globally.

Most users choose Rarible over other platforms because it is a multi-chain platform, has easy-to-use tools, a decentralized governance system that’s more advanced than what you’ll get on most platforms, and a flexible royalty management system that allows creators to set up to 50% royalty fee.

Minting on Rarible is straightforward compared to other NFT marketplaces. The platform itself doesn’t charge a minting fee. You have to pay the gas fee for minting on three different blockchains available in the marketplace (Ethereum, Tezos, and Flow).

After paying the gas fees required for minting, Rarible charges a 2.5% fee for every NFT buy and sell transaction.

What Are Gas Wars and How to Avoid Paying High Gas Fees when Minting

If you’re active in the NFT space, “gas wars” are something you may have sweaty nightmares about. Gas, or the computational power needed to verify transactions on a blockchain network, can often cost hundreds, if not thousands, of dollar-worth of Eth.

Since “minting” an NFT to the blockchain is a much more computationally-heavy process, the network charges more than typical transaction fees.

A gas war is an auction to get front row seats in an upcoming block of transactions to be validated on the Ethereum blockchain. If there is a surge in the number of people waiting for their transactions to get validated, the price gets too high, which triggers a scuffle.

Almost like a bidding war, people pay more so they can get their transactions processed quicker, ‌driving the transaction costs up. Gas wars are the main cause of high transaction fees on the blockchain. They’re prevalent on the Ethereum network, ‌infamous for its performance and scalability setbacks.

To avoid paying high gas fees, ‌learn how to track gas fees. Etherscan’s Gas Now is a handy tool that can help you to minimize gas prices.

How to Mint an NFT for Free on the Blockchain

Popular marketplaces like OpenSea and Rarible allow you to mint NFTs for free on the platform.

Recently, Rarible announced that you could mint for free on the platform (yes, no gas fees). The downside is that your asset goes on the Rarible collection and not your collection. This means Rarible has more control of your digital asset, and also, the buyer pays for your minting fee.

You can also mint for free on OpenSea. The new collection manager launched in December 2020 introduced a lazy minting feature, allowing creators to list NFTs paying no gas fees until they make the first purchase. Since the NFT isn’t transferable on-chain until they purchase, creators can list without paying a dime.

However, this is not applicable for first-time listing. If this is your first time listing on OpenSea, you still have to pay the gas fees needed to initialize your account.

The Polygon network also allows creators to “mint NFTs for free at the speed of light.” All you have to do is connect your Polygon account, upload your digital art, select the Polygon network during the minting process, and you’re good to go.

Final Thoughts: What to Expect for NFT Minting in the Future

Although the NFT market went ballistic in 2021, the 2022 bear market has many reconsidering their sky-high purchases.JPEGs– if not at least the hundreds or thousands of dollars they spent on gas fees to simply purchase the art.

In this article, we learned what NFT minting is, how to mint your project on popular marketplaces, and avoid paying very high gas fees.

However, increasingly more creative and consumer-friendly innovations are being built to make the creation and selling of NFT art a much more profitable endeavor.

Tag: Polygon

Can You Copy an NFT Onto a Different Blockchain?